The Lab Girl
by sue2008
Summary: Someone in the city is abducting young women and putting them back on streets with no memories. When one of FBI own is taken, the clock is ticking and the BAU realizes they know nothing about the people they work with. OFC all the way. NOW COMPLETE
1. Awkward

**Disclaimer: The show Criminal Minds is not mine.**

**A/N So, another Criminal Minds fiction. This time it is not going to be mostly romance, but it revolves around a character I made up. I hope you like it.**

**The Lab Girl**

If Annabelle Wood was ever forced to use a single word to describe herself, she would go with awkward. It had taken her some time, but she had learned her boundaries and was now living a quiet and comfortable life.

She was happy in the work she was doing, because it didn't involve a lot of contact with strangers and she was comfortable in her private life, because it usually involved only small group of good friends.

She was a forensic scientist. She specialized in DNA and she worked for the FBI. She was high enough on the food chain to have her own office, but not too high to be involved in any kind of politics. Her boss was experienced enough in lab work to understand its difficulties and smooth enough in human contact to make sure his people had everything they needed.

.oOo.

It was half past eleven in the evening and Annabelle was sipping a tea in her office and wrapping up a report. Her work didn't include an exact work hours. She had an amount of hours she had to clock in every month and how she did it was up to her. Sometimes, she was called late at night, but often she chose the evening or night mostly because no one was there.

There was whole bunch of DNA-people, but she didn't know everyone personally. At occasion, she worked whatever was needed, but mostly, her work was directed towards the BAU team. It was her kind of specialty and she liked that every person had a group of agents they usually worked with.

After couple of years of 'specializing' she knew exactly what to put in which agent report. SSA Hotchner liked his reports thorough, highly organized, but most importantly on time or sooner. Agent Rossi was old-school, so the DNA report was to be simple and as easy as possible. On the other hand, report for Doctor Reid could contain highly specialized terminology, he had never problem with that. Sometimes he even called and asked about some new procedure she applied, so he could be up to date. The reports for Agent Prentiss and Morgan were quite similar, just with enough science-babble to seem convincing, but simple enough not to be confusing.

Life was easy for Annabelle. She had also learned how to be invisible and that was the way of life she tended for. The key was to have her work ready on time, reports thorough, containing all available information so no one would need to contact her asking for details.

Annabelle didn´t realize she pulled another whole-nighter till she met her boss on her way to bathroom.

"Morning, Bella" Frank Stewart greeted her using the shortened version of her name. She didn´t like that particular shortened version of her name, but she smiled at Frank anyway.

"Morning" she answered but it sounded more like a question than welcome.

"Don´t tell me you have been there whole night" Frank asked the question he knew answer to very well.

"I´ve came slightly before eleven just to finish report, but shortly after midnight came new samples from a case the BAU is working. They found a girl drugged enough to be operated on without her even noticing" Ani tried to explain herself. Frank had a couple of daughters and the younger of them had just left for college, so he felt the urge to place his fatherly protectiveness on someone.

"The BAU works junkies now?" he wondered and only his look betrayed his disagreement with Ani's way of living.

"Well, she´s not junkie, she was missing for five days and she was found naked in the dumpster. I was trying to get some DNA from the samples hospital sent me, but I didn´t have any luck and now I have to go and tell the agents I´m not able to help them"

"Heads up, Annabelle, if you weren´t able to get any DNA it means there wasn´t any, trust me. If Agent Hotcher gives you hard time, don´t hesitate to come to me, I´ll take care of it" Frank knew Ani well enough to be confident about her work.

"Thanks, Frank, you are great boss" and it was honest answer. Frank never let the agents yell at his lab-workers. Well, only when it was really deserved and then the angry agent was usually the less of the two evils.

"I know, but feel free to repeat that as often as you choose. Now, go to talk to SSA Hotchner and then get lost, I don´t want to see you here till tomorrow"

"Will do, boss"

.oOo.

Annabelle knocked on the door of the BAU Unit Chief. She nervously waited for him to call ´Enter´ before she opened the door.

"Morning, Sir" she greeted and quickly jumped to the point "I´m sorry to say, but we were unable to obtain any DNA from the Annie White´s samples."

Hotch looked at the girl standing in front of him. At first he thought she was one of the interns from the lab, but then he realized he had seen her around before. She wasn´t that type of person that was immediately noticed and remembered for long time. Her lab coat was slightly bigger than was necessary, it might look like she had lost some weight recently, but the truth was, it was so on purpose. Ani felt the need to cover her surprisingly wide shoulders and she needed to feel sure that the buttons on her chest won´t tear open. Her hair was pinned strictly on the back of her head. There was some rest of the makeup on her face but Hotch guessed there wasn´t much of it even when it was fresh. She had the type of face that you saw thousands of every day and her figure was what diplomats called well-built and critics massive. But she didn't seem fat, just big. She was only slightly smaller than Hotch and he surprisingly noticed she wasn´t wearing any heels.

"What?" Hotch asked lamely although he heard well the first time, he just needed to cover the awkward quiet moment while he was taking in her posture.

"I personally worked all twelve samples that were sent to us this night. In most of them, there simply wasn´t any DNA to work with, there were two samples that contained some DNA but after preliminary analysis it looks like bacterial DNA. I´m sorry, Sir, but there´s nothing more I could do"

And she put her report on his table. All she managed to write was short summary, but mostly the report contained just rough data. It was the kind of protocol she did for herself but no one on the outside the lab usually understood it.

"It´s just preliminary, Sir, the final version will be ready tomorrow. I´ll sent you it the usual way." she promised and looked like the only thing she really wanted to do was to get out.

Hotch took the report and flipped the pages like he understood it easily. In fact, all he understood was the summary on front page, but the detailed report was out of his comfort zone.

"We are having meeting with the team in fifteen minutes, can you summarize it for me, so I can pass it on" Hotch played it wisely not to appear uneducated in any way. The lab people scared him sometimes.

"Of course, Sir" Annabelle answered politely, when in fact all she wanted to say was ´I think I just did´, but she got used to explaining her reports when she didn´t have time to translate them to more common language.

"It says about the procedures that were done. The only thing that should concern you is the fact, that all the controls were done and gave the expected results. It means that the procedures were rightly done and I didn´t make any mistakes while processing the samples. It´s required procedure and often seek at the court."

"Thank you"

"You´re welcome, Sir. You can call the lab if you need anything else" Annabelle offered and left.

Hotch picked up phone and dialed the lab. But he wasn´t looking for any further explanation…except for one.

"Hey, Frank, how are you doing?" Hotch asked his long-time friend.

"Hotch, that´s surprise" Frank answered "What do you need?"

"I just had a weird conversation with one of your people, Annabelle Wood" he specified as he checked the name on the report "she´s new?"

"Annabelle? Are you kidding? She´s been with us for almost five years, she´s one of the best and most of the time she´s been working for the BAU. Was there any problem?" Frank asked and sounded like he would be really surprised if there had been any problem.

Hotch was quiet for a while, slightly embarrassed. He had never paid attention to the name on the lab results as well as he had never been even slightly interested in the lab procedure. He had no idea that there was person working mostly for them.

"No, no problem, she just seemed quite unsure and gave me strange report so I was checking out how trustworthy she was"

"Yeah, Annabelle doesn´t play well with other kids, honestly, I have no idea why, but that just the way she is. But her work is above first-class, don´t worry. And the report is my fault, I´ve found her in front of computer after she had spent whole night in the lab. I ordered her to go home and finish the report later. Someone has to take care of those lab-rats" Frank joked.

"They are not just lab-rats, trust me" Hotch smiled as he watched his team already gathering in the briefing room. After last night visit to crime scene, then hospital he was more than sure they didn´t get more then couple hours of sleep and if he hadn´t sent them home, they wouldn´t go to sleep at all.

"Anyway, thanks, Frank, we should catch up soon"

"Yeah, some day, when we both have free time" Frank said and they both knew that was not going to happen in foreseeable future.

**Next: The case Annabelle worked on:)**


	2. No DNA

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**A/N Not very exciting part of the story, but it's just getting warmer:)) I will update soon, promise**

"So, apparently, there was no DNA" Hotch started as the whole team was gathered in the conference room. They were all sipping morning coffee as they were slowly penetrating the mysteries of the case in front of them.

"Nothing? Not even under her nails? Did the hospital run a rape-kit" Morgan wondered. "Either someone in the lab had seriously screwed up or we are dealing with some highly organized offender"

"Because I´ve checked with Frank Stewart about the reliability of his people I´d go with the second option"

Hotch knew Frank well enough to be sure that if there was any possibility of mistake, he´d tell him about it.

"I agree with the highly organized UnSub" Rossi jumped in to the ongoing brainstorming "The victim was pumped with some mixture of drugs the hospital staff wasn´t yet able to untangle. What´s certain is the fact, that it completely erased her memory"

"Completely?" Reid wondered.

"Well, at least for the last few days. Her long time memory seems to be untouched, but she has no idea when or how she was taken, how long she was gone or what had happened to her." Rossi related the conversation he had had with the victim.

"What does she remember?" Emily asked.

"The first memory we were able to get to was her mother birthday about three week ago. Before that her memory seems to be untouched"

"Then I'll go with organized UnSub as well." Reid said "He had to know what he was doing"

"He might have just get lucky" Emily opposed but mostly for the sake of the argument.

"You don´t just get lucky with such a mixture. I´d say there were at least three of four drugs involved." Reid stood his ground.

"And the fact that he didn´t just kill her, but was able to cover his tracks anyway, support the organization as well" Rossi supported the doctor.

"OK, so we agree on organized UnSub, probably with some degree of education, pharmacology most probably, who is able to keep a victim for days, do God knows who to her and then cut her loose..." Morgan summarized what they came up with till know "...What interest me, what the hell did he get from it. And what about victimology, where we stand with that?"

"I can help you with that" Garcia entered the room holding her laptop. "Annie White was a nearly-thirty years old manager. Judging by her bank-account a successful one. And before you ask, no, I wasn´t able to find any sign of foul play with her finances" Garcia spilled out quickly as she noticed Hotch was taking a breath.

"She lived alone, but in the apartment with doorkeeper. She checked with her family regularly, drove car to work and basically was as low risk as they get" Garcia finished.

"Then it is more probable she was taken by someone she knew. Did she had any restraining orders? Or complained about stalker to someone?" Emily once again opened a discussion.

"Stalker wouldn´t let her go...definitely not alive" Rossi commented.

"I´ve also searched the databases of recent crimes...and I´ve found a similar case" Garcia interrupted the starting brainstorming with another information.

"Where?" Hotch wondered.

"Here, in DC" Garcia answered. Hannah Foster, 21, student at local college. She wasn´t really reported missing, but was found one day in similar condition like our recent victim. She had serious memory lap and had signs of abuse all over her. The problem was, she had had a drug problem on high school and even though she had claimed to be completely clean for years now, the police had closed it as drug related violence and after questioning few known on-campus dealers dropped it."

"Thank you, Garcia" Hotch dismissed the analyst and she left the room. After short pause for thinking Hotch ordered the group.

"Morgan and Prentiss, go talk to Hannah, whatever she can or can´t remember. And try to find out if she knows our recent victim. Rossi and I will go to talk to Annie further to see if she starts to remember anything. Reid, you try to work the drugs angle, try to find out with what she was drugged and how anyone could get the drugs. We will meet here after lunch, lets say at 2"

.oOo.

Two weeks passed. The BAU was left with nothing on the recent case. They were able to establish similarity between Annie and Hannah´s cases, but they weren´t able to put them together. Any lack of physical evidence didn´t allow them further inquiries even tough it was clue in itself.

They watched out for recent missing women in the city, but there were eleven already and they had only very little to eliminate them with. They were stuck with four and no one was willing to admit out loud they were just waiting for the next dump.

That day Annabelle came to work in the evening. She was helping one of her co-workers with some cold case and she decided it was more comfortable to do her work with as less crowd as possible. She was just waiting for the elevator in the underground garages when it arrived with a beep. Reid just got out of it. The BAU team was coming home after another day without success.

As he noticed Annabelle he nodded at her friendly. He was probably the only one from the team who was able to put Annabelle´s face together with her name. He stopped surprised as he noticed a black eye on her face. He immediately remembered he had seen her with various bruises over the last years.

"What happened to you, Annabelle?" as he saw the worst in people over his years with the FBI he immediately jumped to the conclusion. He had no idea if Annabelle lived in any kind of relationship or if she liked to get herself in fights. To his defense, he was just really concerned.

On the other hand, Annabelle used to live in the safe world of the lab and samples. The last thing that crossed her mind was how her bruised face looked like.

"Oh, it´s nothing, doctor, I had worse" she dismissed Reid´s concerns and got into elevator. With quiet good night wish she let the door close as she selected the floor.

It took her while to understand why the doctor sent her contacts to victim of abuse support groups. But it was mostly because it was busy night.

Another girl had been found and this time she was even more unlucky that her predecessors. She was dead.

The report of her being involved in the ongoing BAU case came in the morning, right about the time Ani was getting ready to leave. Not really having plans and being used to sleepless nights, Ani didn´t even wink as she put her hoodie back in the locker getting her lab coat out.

**Next: unexpected twist:))**


	3. Missing

**Disclaimer: The usual**

"OK, so we have murder now" with the feeling of deja-vu Hotch started the meeting. They had just came back from the scene where the body of young Michelle Taylor was found. The whole team was already changed to some of the things from their ready-bags as it was heavily raining outside. Most of them still had theirs hair wet.

"The rain would it make very hard to find any forensic evidence" Reid observed.

"Do we really expect to find any?" Rossi pointed out.

"We will have to wait for lab with that conclusion" Emily dismissed Rossi´s gloomy, but very realistic argument "Lets focus on what we know. What killed the girl?"

"The ME on the scene wasn´t able to find any obvious cause of death, the girl was beaten and raped like the girls before her, but nothing additional that would account for her being dead" Hotch relayed the conversation he had had on the crime scene.

"What did the ME guessed?" Morgan asked.

"He said it looked like violent allergic reaction to whatever the UnSub dosed her with"

"Allergic reaction?" Reid exclaimed "that´s seriously screwed...Really, are we going public with it?" he asked.

"No, let him think we have found her alive. If he realize he has killed already, he might very well evolve a taste for it and it´s the last thing we need" Hotch decided.

"We still say 'he' but what about we considered alternatives" Rossi suggested.

"Like female UnSub, improbable..." Emily opposed.

"Of course" Reid interrupted before Emily could defend her statement, "but couple or even a pack of men makes sense"

"A group?" Morgan hesitated.

"It´s valid idea, one or two strong personalities can easily rouse the suggestible ones. Especially when they share common belief." Hotch agreed "But let´s not get caught in things we don´t know. There has to be some link between the women, so we should go to talk to Michelle Taylor´s family. Then we should concentrate on the dump sites. It´s obvious they are only secondary, but do they have anything in common? Reid, try to work on geographical profile..."

Before Hotch could continue his cell rang. He picked it up immediately and the conversation was very short. He hung up and informed.

"So, no DNA on victim again. We should really get cracking"

.oOo.

Six days passed as quickly as they do only when there is serial killer on the loose and no obvious leads.

Michelle Taylor was as just dead end as the other two victims. The fact of her being actually dead didn´t mean that much, because the previous victims weren´t able to recall anything even after some time had passed and they were treated with various kinds of cognitive therapy and had even agreed to undergo hypnosis. It left the team with nothing.

The team wasn't even able to prove the victims knew each other or had any kind of connection. Hannah was student with substance-abuse history, Annie was successful manager and Michelle was a young nurse, new in town, and she barely made the two ends meet. They all lived in different parts of town and probably never heard of each other.

The next day Hotch sat in his office, reading yet another file as he hoped to find another angle on the case. It was early in the morning and the team wasn´t yet at work. Hotch had woken up with the feeling something was going to happen today. The UnSub used to keep the victims for about five days and the gaps between the abductions were similar. Hotch knew it was just about time he would be hunting for new prey. They kept track of missing women, but the victimology was all around the place and they had nothing to eliminate possible victims.

And then there was the noise Hotch was so worried about. His phone rang.

"Hotchner" he started.

"Hotch, it´s Frank Stewart" the caller introduced himself. Hotch felt just second of relief when Frank continued "I know you are busy, but I have a problem."

"What is it?" Hotch wasn´t in the mood for some family drama.

"It´s Annabelle Wood...She has been missing for two days." Frank admitted obviously reluctantly.

"Missing, what the hell do you mean by missing?" Hotch breathed out surprised.

"Well, she haven´t been to work for two days and nights. She usually keeps pretty weird hours so we didn´t catch up with it sooner. Only last night I got a call from one of my scientist Bella was supposed to work with these days, that the work she promised to have finish by yesterday wasn´t even started yet and he couldn´t get hold of her. So, I went through the lab log and he tlast time she was there was three nights ago."

"She might be sick" Hotch came with the rational explanation.

"You think I haven´t thought about it?" Frank wondered "I called her about a million times and it´s not like her, not to let me know."

"And what do you want me to do? Maybe she had some quarrel in work place...And what about her private life?" Although Hotch could easily replay the worst case scenarios, he still hoped for some usual explanation. After all, they were the common ones.

"Well, basically, she has no private life. All I know she´s into some sport or something. But no husband, kids, no boyfriend as far as I know" Frank only then realized how little he knew about his employee.

"Maybe she had some accident at home?" another one of the 'common' explanations.

"Well, this is where am I now..." Frank admitted.

"How did you get in?" Hotch asked, but didn't really want to know the answer.

"I have found her address in her file and I broke in...You know, I still remembered a thing or two from my time as a field agent" Frank explained almost innocently.

"And what did you find?" Hotch ignored the last comment.

"That´s the point. There´s everything as it was, even toothbrush is still in it´s place. What worries me the most, is the fact, that there is some meat in the sink she left probably to defrost. It looks like she should come back any minute, well, the meat is spoiled by now, but you know what I mean."

"She either left in terrible hurry or something had happened to her..." Hotch finally had to come to the unpleasant conclusion.

"What do we do, than?" Frank asked helplessly.

"Come back to the office" Hotch advised. "We´ll run background check to find anything about her and we´ll contact the hospitals...and morgues" Hotch added after short hesitation. There was no real need to be too careful around Frank.

"Thanks. I know you are busy with your case..." Frank was really thankful, he really wasn´t in the mood to deal with the proper procedures. And he would never admit how worried he was. He liked Bella a lot and she was nothing if not reliable.

"Well, I might as well do something useful" Hotch ended the call not admitting how terribly the case was going.

The moment he finished the call he saw Garcia coming in. He called after her and ordered to check Annabelle´s phone log, credit card activity or any signs of her traveling abroad. He himself started with the boring phone calls and with the dark mood he was in, he started with morgues, asking for possible Jane Doe´s.

Half and hour and dozen of phone call´s later Hotch had to admit, that no one matching Annabelle´s description died or was admitted to the hospital. Garcia came empty handed as well, there was no sign of Annabelle traveling away and there was no activity on her phone or credit card. The GPS tracker on her cell was untraceable, with last signal two blocks away from her home. As Morgan just arrived to work, Hotch sent him there immediately and he picked Reid on his way out. It didn´t take him even half an hour to call back. They had found Annabelle´s phone all smashed in nearby bushes. There was no denying it, wherever Ani was, she didn´t go there willingly.

JJ was the first to ask the question everyone was afraid to find the answer to: Was it connected to the ongoing case?

**Next: I think you know where it is going...**


	4. Famous

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

As the minutes changed into hour, the whole team was gathered and discussed the recent events. The atmosphere in room was weird. Usually, when there was one of their own in distress, they get out of themselves to do something. But with Annabelle it was different. It was like on the family´s-old-maiden-auntie funeral. Everyone kind of knew they should miss her, but no one was really personally touched. The unwritten ´you-don´t-mess-with-the-FBI´ rule was clear enough for everyone to do their best, but no one ever care enough to get to know the lab girl to feel anyhow connected to her. She was just another victim, another way for them to get to know the UnSub better.

They were ripped out from the grim thoughts by Garcia, she stormed into the room and drew everyone´s attention to herself.

"Did you know, about Annabelle?" she asked everyone, but no one in particular.

"Did we know what, Garcia?" Emily asked the question in everybody´s mind glad that something should take their minds off the the fact how stuck they were. They still didn´t know for sure, if the two cases were connected. Either way it was, it didn´t change anything for them. They had nothing to go with on either of them.

"Annabelle, she was kind of famous, at least in one group of people" if she had said she just saw a Santa Claus, they wouldn´t be more surprised.

"What are you talking about, Babygirl" Morgan asked, now seriously intrigued.

"Have you at least googled her?" Garcia asked.

"Why would I goo…"

But before Morgan could finish, Garcia was already seated at his computer with Google on. She typed Annabelle´s full name and selected pictures. Immediately dozens of pictures appeared. At the first one Annabelle in white dobok and she wore a black belt.

"What the hell?" Emily wondered "How did you found out?"

"I´ve check her personal file and in her CV she wrote she was into the martial arts, so I´ve figured if she was really into that, there would be some track online, so I´ve check various sport federation and I´ve found her in the Taekwondo. As I was browsing the federation pages, I´ve noticed some article mentioning her, so I ´ve searched further and voila!" Garcia once more pointed at the pictures on the screen, this time selecting the one with Annabelle in national dress, holding a flag.

"She is a many time national champion, last year even The World Champion, did anyone knew?" Garcia wondered out loud.

"Even I didn´t have an idea" Frank Stewart just came down to ask how was the investigation going "She´d never told a word when she was asking for leave of absence, I was even mean to her last year when she asked for longer time off. I thought she was having some serious vacationing planned because she mentioned Australia….I´ve never figured…"

"That´s not all." Garcia continued "While I was googling, I´ve decided to give it a shot for the other victims as well…and guess what I´ve found."

This time she had printed photos and some articles. All three previous victims were somehow involved in various martial arts.

"That´s our linking point" Reid stated the obvious. Sad smile appeared on his face. "Now we know that the cases are connected"

"I´m going to get Hotch…" Emily informed but before she could go anywhere, the Unit Chief was lured out by unusual gathering.

"What did you found?" he asked as he recognized Garcia as the unnamed leader in the small group.

"She was finally able to find the link between the victims, even Annabelle. They didn´t even need to know each other, at least not personally." Morgan summarized what they found out and in few sentences informed Hotch about Garcia´s finding.

"Great, Prentiss go talk to Annabelle´s couch…instructor or master or whatever they call it. Reid, Morgan and I will do the same with the other girls. Rossi, go check Annabelle´s apartment. There might be some indication what had happened to her. Meeting in two hours. Great work, Garcia" Hotch ordered everyone while he himself was already halfway out of the room.

Hotch was probably the only one, except for Reid, feeling the FBI-stick-together-thing. The last month´s conversation with Frank made him realize that he worked with Annabelle for five years not even knowing about it, so he took the time, read her files and greeted her every time he met her. For him, she was part of the team and no one messes with his team.

And then there was Reid. He had been greeting Annabelle ever since she had started to work for them and she always smiled back. Most of the observers would call it chemistry, but because they had enough awkwardness between them to provide for regular high school, nothing had ever happened.

It had all started few years back, when Annabelle had came to work for the FBI. She had been nothing but naïve university graduate back than, lucky enough to catch a job with the Bureau. She really didn't want to come to the huge Annual Christmas party but she had been told it was obligatory. So she went.

The fate of Reid had been very similar. He had known the party wasn´t obligatory, but the pressure created mostly by JJ had forced him to go anyway.

So it happen the two of them had met. Anabelle sipping only second glass of champagne and Reid who was on the orange juice whole evening had had so much to tell to each other that they had completely forgot about ongoing madness. Too bad their coworkers hadn't. It had taken a while, but the couple had been noticed. What had started as a friendship was quickly transformed to awkward what-might-have-been situation by merciless teasing of people far more experienced in human relationships.

It had naturally turned to playing it safe and any further contact since then had been only work related and any attempt at the conversation had finished with awkward silence.

Reid just blushed slightly at the memory of his concern about her bruises. How she must have laughed at him. He wondered why Bella had never told him she was into Martial Arts.

**Next: Getting to know Ani.**


	5. Ben

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.**

As the team arrived back, they found a visitor in JJ´s office. A young man was seated there obviously in distress. JJ came to greet Hotch and whispered to him.

"It´s Annabelle´s younger brother, Ben Wood. Garcia found out he was the only person from her family she stayed in contact with. He lives in Boston and had just flown in."

"Did you talk to him?"

"I haven´t really get the chance. I just briefed him on what´s going on, but I thought it wise to wait with the questioning for you guys" the media liaison informed.

"OK, give me a minute and we can do it together. You have already established some trust"

"OK, we´ll wait for you in my office and Hotch..." JJ stopped him before he had chance to leave "...I think they were really close, Anabelle and her brother" JJ always was the one to catch on things like that "...When Rossi came back from her apartment, he said there weren´t any family photos, except for a few with her brother."

It really took Hotch only few minutes to get back to JJ´s office. As he came in, he introduced himself to the young man and immediately started profiling. There were some similarities between the siblings, not only in the looks, but in the behavior as well. Ben, like his sister, was obviously uncomfortable in unknown surrounding and definitely wasn´t the sociable type. He looked too young for his age, which Hotch estimated as twenty five-ish. He and Annabelle had to be close in age so probably they were close growing up. He wondered if there were any other siblings, because Ben had all the marks of the family baby in him. He wasn´t exactly spoiled but was used to being taken care of.

As the silence in the room was becoming unnatural Hotch started to ask questions.

"You and Bella were close, I presume..." Hotch asked carefully. Usually, it was easier to start with questions like this, to let the family members talk about their loved ones instead of asking immediately about any possible treats.

Ben´s expression changed to warm one that almost, but not completely, covered the look of horror on the young man´s face.

"Ani´s great. She´s only year and half older than me, but she was always taking care of me...But not in the terrible I´m-adult-and-you-are-child way. She really cares. And she´s still fun. She usually agrees to all the crazy things...well, not too crazy." As Hotch expected Ben was babbling without actually giving him any information, but right now was the point to get Ben talking.

"By the way" Ben added "Ani hates to be called Bella. She always says she´s more Star Wars than Twilight kind of girl."

The comment made JJ smile. But it also proved how close the siblings were. You don't make jokes like that with just anyone.

"What about the rest of the family, is there anyone else we should informed?" JJ asked the practical question, now concerned even more.

"Not really. We´re not exactly the stick-together family. Just post cards and e-mails mostly" Ben admitted and stated in matter of fact way "Our mother left while we were both at college, she lives in Canada now. Our older brother lives on the West Coast. But he was always the I´m-too-mature-to-have-fun kind of guy, so we weren´t really close. And our father died last year. Ani had taken care of him till than. So, there´s no one else that would miss her, at least not for some time" The statement was weirdly cold and only supported their assumption how close the two siblings had grew over the years.

"And what about friends?" Hotch asked the obvious. "Any boyfriend?"

"Ani and a boyfriend? It would have to be one hell of a guy. And, well, she´s carrying some relationship issues from home. So, no. And as to friends - only bunch of them were really close to her. Three or four girls from collage and one from high school that I know of. There was also bunch of guys from the Taekwondo, but it was mostly casual acquaintances. She liked them, but never got too close."

It concluded the easier part of conversation. Now, it was more serious time.

"Did she had any personal issues with anyone. Had she complained to you about anything, in work or in private life?"

"Not really. She wasn´t the complaining type. She kept mostly to herself." Ben said hesitatingly as he tried to remember anything. "I just know she loves to work for the FBI. You should have seen her when she got the job. And I think she still feels that way about her work" It made Hotch feel even more guilty about not caring for the lab workers. It was so weird hearing about Ani's passion for a work, even though she was ignored most of the time.

"And she really didn't have much of a personal life..." Ben continued, not noticing that the agent's thoughts went away.

"Maybe she was afraid of someone, she might have only drop a hint." Hotch was fishing, but he knew very well that even the slightest notions might get them something to go with.

"Well, it was not even two months ago. She had flown for the weekend to see me. I had just proposed to my girlfriend so we were mostly celebrating and talking about me. But she had slight black-eye. It´s usually nothing with her. You had certainly noticed that bruises weren´t rarities with her, but this one...I don´t know, when I asked her about it, she didn´t smile or made joke or even said how stupid she was to let someone punch her. She had just said, that it was nothing and changed the topic. I was so happy then that I hadn´t really paid attention, but it was just weird." Ben remembered hesitatingly.

"So you think someone had hit her outside of the practice" Hotch continued the line of questioning. They might have had something at last.

"No, she´d have told me that" Ben said decidedly. "I thought she had made some stupid mistake or some smaller girl had got to her...you know the pride thing. But then I remembered she had had the All Martial Arts Self-Defense seminar the weekend before. It was regular thing, once a year, and she had loved it every time, but this year when I asked her about it she just went over it without words. So, if something had happened, it was probably there."

"Do you recognize anyone on this photo?" Hotch asked showing Ben one photo Rossi had brought back from Ani´s home.

"Yeah, sure. It´s one from Ani´s favorite exposition, but it must be five or six years old. See, that´s me" Ben pointed on the one guy in the picture. Ani was sitting there on the floor, with fully blown smile on. Counting in her brother there were nine men standing around her making funny faces for the camera "It was the last year I was practicing with her and when I think about it, it must have been the first year of the seminar I´ve mentioned before. Why do you ask?"

"For some reason Ani had taken the picture down and hid it in a drawer." Rossi had shortly informed Hotch where he had found the photo and why he had found it important.

"That´s weird. The seminar must have been really crappy." Ben wondered.

"What about the other guys in the photo" Hotch questioned further.

"If I´m not mistaken, only this three still practice. The tall guy in the middle used to be in national team like Ani."

"Could she have been involved with him?" Hotch tried.

"With Josh? Never! And with any other, very unlikely. She said that men don´t want woman that were more successful than them. And Ani is successful. So she gave up on Taekwondo guys long time ago."

"OK, Mr. Wood, thank you, you were very helpful" Hotch stood up as did Ben and JJ.

"I´m sorry I couldn´t do more"

"It´s OK. It´s definitely more than we had an hour before" Hotch said truthfully. "If you are planning on staying in town, Agent Jareau can help you with finding a hotel"

"I kind of thought I could stay in Ani´s place. I have the key..." Ben said. JJ and Hotch exchanged look and JJ nodded slightly "It has already been processed" she suggested quietly.

"OK, then...you can stay there...we´ll stay in touch" Hotch shook Ben´s hand and was about the leave, when Ben stopped him.

"Agent...Hotchner" Ben said trying to get the name right "I´m getting married soon and Annabelle´s is the only family I really want there"

Hotch hesitated. And decided to go with the usual "We are doing our best" How could he say to loving brother, that the guy that had his sister didn´t kill his victims, but when he was finished with them, he just as well might.

**Next: Digging deeper.**


	6. Nasty Pack of Men

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**A/N Sorry for the delay, but now I have my story almost ready, so be prepared for updates:))**

Hotch referred to the rest of the team what did he found out from Annabelle´s brother. Garcia immediately took upon the challenge of searching for the names of the people on the photo. With hers amazing multitasking abilities she researched the martial arts seminar as well. Finding the list of attendants was just a piece of cake for her. It was over four hundreds people, but finally they had something to go with. All three previous victims were listed there as well.

Thanks to the news, the conference room was filled with busy excitement. Four hundreds was something to eliminate from. And only slightly over three hundreds of the attendants were males. They had definitely excluded the possibility of female UnSub.

"I´m still not convinced we are looking for single UnSub" Reid stated as he went again through the names on the list. They had already called Ben to come back and help them with Annabelle´s possible friends or enemies.

"What makes you think so?" Rossi asked.

"The way he overpowers them. I don´t think Ani or any other of the girls would have let a single guy sneak of them like that"

"Well, yes" Emily agreed "but we know that he is dosing them with something. And right now we agree the victims knew their attacker. So she might have even go willingly with him."

"And what about the smashed phone" Reid continued to disagree "Can you imagine any of the victims sitting obediently in the car while the attacker was smashing her phone?"

"Reid has a point" Hotch agreed "Ben claims that Ani was kind of paranoid in this situations. I think there were at least two or maybe three of more attackers. One to distract, the other with the drug. But lets not complicate the situation. Even if there´s a pack, the leader would have displayed violent tendencies against women in the past."

"Definitely, but I think there won´t be any recent charges" Morgan continued the idea "he´s became too smart to act out in the public now. Anyway, one of the submissive ones might have slipped, but I don´t think we would get anywhere even if we catch him. The submissive would never give up the dominant one."

"Not willingly" Rossi agreed "but he might at least point us in the right direction" he pointed out relying completely on the team´s interrogation abilities.

"OK, Garcia, search for any criminal records between the attendants of the seminar." Hotch ordered over the phone and the only answer was fast clicking on the keyboard. It took Garcia only minute to come up with the number.

"76...geee, it is nasty pack of men" Garcia commented the result.

"Try to eliminate for violent crimes. Ideally with women involved." Rossi specified.

"Still 23, you have to be more specific"

"Eliminate the domestic abuse cases. I don´t think he has a problem with women in general, only with women in position of power"

"15...but there are mostly bar fights, some assaults..." Garcia read from the list "BINGO!" she yelped "Gabe Jackson, he ended up with assault charges after he had hit his boss, yes my friends, a woman. Three years ago. Since then he changed a city a career path and is clean ever since.

"Gabe Jackson?" Ben wondered. "I can´t be sure to know all Ani´s friends, but I have never heard a word about him from her. Not even a mention."

"Gabe is into karate" Garcia found out. "They wouldn´t even know each other from a practice session"

"Or they wouldn´t meet regularly, but let´s not eliminate him yet. He fits the profile perfectly and don´t forget that Annie was a Karate girl" Rossi argumented.

"What if..." Reid started but then shook his head. JJ nodded encouragingly at him and he said quietly "...it´s just again the pack theory...what if the male from different martial arts had an issue with a women in their sport. Men usually cherish their achievements and they are not shy about them. It´s different with women. If man brags about the number of KO he managed to achieve, he´s a hero, but if woman tries to do the same she´s a freak."

"It´s how Ani feels." Ben seemingly forgotten in the corner of the room followed the brainstorming carefully. "It´s why she has never dated anyone from her Taekwondo friends, she says she feels like one of the guys most of the time"

"OK, but what are the guys saying about it" Emily asked eager to compare her own experience.

"It´s hard to say, I suppose they were never completely honest with me. Ani is my sister and we never pretended we didn´t like each other. But for most of the guys it was OK. She never asked to be treated any differently and most of them didn´t have problem with that."

Hotch was observing the conversation and added "I don´t think Ben can answer this question entirely." He surprised them, but deep inside Rossi and Morgan had to admit he was right.

"But can you go through the list of the women and tell us if Ani knew any of them?" they still needed Ben´s help.

**Next: Getting closer.**


	7. Nice Girl

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters**

It took them only a couple of hours to track down Linda Clark. Ben had vaguely remembered her and as it turned out, she was the closest thing Ani had to a girl-friend in the Taekwondo classes, but what was even more important, Linda had participated in the seminar as well.

After a while of the introduction, Emily started to ask direct questions.

"Was there anything out of ordinary that had taken place in this year seminar?"

"It depends how out of ordinary you mean..." Linda stalled but seeing Emily's impatient look she cut off the smart-ass-ness and cut to the chase.

"It wasn't really that extra ordinary to hear not-very-pleasant comments about being woman and doing martial arts, but it got really bad. Ani...she could never really understand, why it was such a problem. The course leader, Lee Evans, had used Ani as a model. Lee has a nasty habit of humiliating woman, so after he had showed off with three younger girls making one of them run away crying, Ani volunteered. She's good and he knew it, but it was a challenge. Anyway, Ani defeated him in no time. Lee insisted it should look like regular street-fight, so Ani used few unusual techniques. It pissed him off. When she turned her back to walk away he called after her. She stopped and turned back and he just punched her. There was quiet for a while, but mostly he got support with the 'never underestimate even beaten opponent'. It would be OK and I think Ani realized her mistake and chuckled even, but Lee instead of giving her hand and helping her stand up just whispered something to her and I guess it wasn't very nice. I have never seen Ani looked so stunned."

After that Linda wasn't much help, she was just able to confirm that all of the girls took part in the seminar.

.oOo.

"I agree that Lee Evans is very probably our suspect, but I still claim he would be able to abduct Ani on his own" Reid still stood his ground even after half an hour of agitated discussion. The BAU team was closed together in the conference room and working the case. They were all more and more aware of the ticking clock. The team was desperate to solve the case, but they still couldn't get the profile right.

"Even if we'd go with the couple-or-group theory why then restrict ourselves just to the martial art community. Lee might have find his accomplice wherever" Morgan came with new obstruction.

"I don't think so" Reid wouldn't even let anyone else start speaking. He was convinced of his truth and his mission was to convince everyone in the room. To his credit, the team knew that the doctor was usually right. But in the situation when one of their own, however unimportant, was taken, they needed to be sure.

"If you check Lee's activity, he's not really into any of the martial arts our victim were involved in. I doubt that once-a-year seminar would be reason enough for him to pick the victims. And why just those victims?" Reid continued.

"Your points might be valid" Rossi finally admitted "But it's not very probable that in relatively small community of martial arts there would be two or more subjects with the same delusion" he argued further.

"Yes, but haven´t just Garcia pointed out that they are, and I´m quoting ´nasty pack of men.´ They have above average rate of violent crimes. It must count for something. And they don´t have to have exactly the same fantasy. If there would be one strong enough personality, he´d be able to lead on the rest." Reid had his answer ready.

"Reid might have a point" Morgan interrupted "I have been going through the list of injuries on all victims and they differ quite a lot"

"So, he´s evolving" Emily said with no big deal attitude "Or he might even be looking for what it really is that turns him on"

"Nope, the injuries don´t have more violent tendencies. But they are all over the place: beating, burns, and cuts, on Annie even chocking marks. Interestingly enough the type of injury differs between victims quite enough. To be honest, if the victims wouldn´t turn out with the same drug induced amnesia I think we wouldn´t be even considering it as a serial offenses." Morgan explained his conviction.

"I think there probably is something to the pack-theory" Hotch finally got involved in the discussion. "But right now it makes searching for the UnSub even harder, because we´re not looking only for one person."

"I think the easiest way for us to go about it is to look at their employments. All pharmacists, doctors and maybe even chemist should be checked further. And maybe, going on a hunch, I´d check for policemen or crime scene investigators as well. All evidence from the body were removed too meticulously. Then we should consider a place where they are taking their victims. I doubt it would be anywhere in the city. It´s not like you could keep girl even restrained or gagged and doing all the stuff to her while neighbors next door are watching soap opera." Reid was glad he could start some actions at last.

Morgan was already dialing Garcia. If he or any of his colleagues were surprised by the unusual active attitude of the doctor, they were wise enough to let it uncommented. Now it was up to Garcia, but if anyone would be able to snoop something, it would be her.

Because it was already late evening, Hotch ordered everyone to go home. He himself wasn´t going, but wanted the rest to get some sleep. Reid seemingly obeyed, but as all of his coworkers left, he alone remained seated at his computer.

"Reid, you were supposed to go home" Hotch came to him the moment he noticed the doctor was still in his chair.

"You´re staying" Reid pointed out boldly.

"I´m going to have a nap on my couch, until Garcia finds something" Hotch explained and took breath to further press the order he gave, but Reid wouldn´t let him.

"It ´s already third day, you know…" the doctor spat out of the blue "If we won´t find her tomorrow or the next day´s early hours, they are going to pump her with some wicked drug cocktail. What if she´s allergic to any of them? Or what if they decided killing the victim was more their style? And three days…you know what could they to her by that time? I keep reading the previous reports and I keep seeing her face. Even if she survives, how does person deal with something like that?"

He winked few time as he was trying to get some terrible images away from his sight.

"She´s really nice girl" Reid blurted out in a weak moment.

Hotch smiled understandingly and leaned on the table. He decided to make exception for the doctor.

"Reid, you really need to get some rest. You are not helping anyone by torturing yourself." Reid looked at his boss surprised. He half expected to be told off for hiding personal involvement or even to be thrown off the case. He definitely didn´t expect understanding.

"There is a small sofa in the conference room. It´s not very comfortable one, but you can stay here, if you promise to give yourself a break and try to get some sleep."

Reid gave up and nodded in agreement, satisfied with the outcome. He clicked few time and turned off his computer. He was just about to go to the conference room when Hotch unexpectedly added.

"I´ve checked her medical reports, Ani is not allergic to anything."

Reid stopped, for a second he looked curious, like he wasn´t sure about what Hotch talking and then smiled appreciatively and without further words walked away.

Although he claimed not to be tired, Reid felt asleep the moment he was in horizontal position. And still he believed he had just lain down, when someone shook his arm in order to wake him. It took him few winks until he focused his sight enough to recognize Garcia.

"Bossman told me to wake you up" Garcia said "and for the record it´s not very nice to sleep while others" there she pointed at herself "have to work hard".

"You know it´s deeply appreciated" Hotch announced from the doors. And then he turned to Reid "Let's look at what Garcia found before we wake the others"

"If you want to get some sleep, it would be the time" the boss turned back to technical analyst, but he knew very well, Garcia made usually lot noise for nothing and she usually didn´t rest until the case was over.

"I´ll be in my cave" she just announced before she left.

**Next: the arrests**


	8. Not Our Guy

**Disclaimer: Nothing I write I really mine:))**

**A/N Here comes one short chapter, so read quickly and be ready for further updates.**

The next day moved more rapidly than anyone would like it to. It was still early in the morning, when the rest of the team arrived, mostly after a short night of restless sleep. Still they finally agreed on the pack theory. They managed to pick five most probable suspects. The LEO´s were on their way to pick them up and the BAU team was getting ready to long interrogation. Their first aim was to determine who the dominant one was and move from there.

The morning was getting late when the suspects were brought in. The whole operation was neatly organized so the suspects didn't meet each other. Now it was up to the team interrogation skills.

First was ready Emily. She was interrogating Marc Li. His passion was krav-maga and he was brought in mostly on that account. And the fact that he was very often in contact with the other suspects. It took Emily only about half an hour to find out, that Marc despised women and had violent responses to any kind of intimidation.

Next half of hour she questioned him about his work. He was employed in building company and as Emily found out, he had easy access to company vans and he could get duct tapes and ropes and other things in almost unlimited amounts. Then she questioned him about his alibi for the time of abduction of all victims and found it curios that the only time he was sure about what he was doing, had been the time that Hannah was taken.

Marc explained himself, that the fact he knew Hannah from the practice made it probably personal and that was why he remembered it.

Although the whole interrogation lasted about an hour, it took Emily only like five seconds after she had entered the interrogation room for the first time to be more then sure, that Marc was anything but dominant and although he liked to get in fights, he would never do it on his own.

After Emily was finished, she took a quick look to other interrogation rooms. Furthest was Reid with Gabe Jackson. Gabe was karate person like Annie was and he was also a pharmacist.

Reid was just questioning Gabe about the day of Annabelle's abduction. Gabe gave some lame excuse like watching a game and Reid was finished within fifteen minutes. Just like Emily he was sure, that even though Gabe was definitely violent person, mostly towards the weaker ones, there was no way he was a dominant personality.

As they realized the other interrogations were going to take more times, Prentiss and Reid decided to order huge amount of chinese and just wait for the others. The order just came when Morgan and Rossi finished.

They threw themselves on the food gratefully, but first they admitted their suspects were dead ends.

Rossi was more then sure that his suspect, Josh Walker, who practiced Teakwondo with Ani was somehow involved in this all, but he has no way of proving it. Even more, Rossi informed that he had time to check on Hotch'es interrogation. Lee Walker was their star suspect. He stayed seemingly in the shadow, if it hadn't been for the story Linda told them. Further more, he was in frequent contact with all the other suspects. Rossi admitted he had just a quick peak, but Lee seemed promising as a suspect.

Rossi was just about to start eating, when Hotch came.

"I don't think Lee is our person" he said and surprised everyone.

"But Rossi said..." Reid started but Hotch wouldn't let him finish.

"At first I'd thought so as well, but you would have to be with Lee in one room for longer time to realize it is just well trained pose. And there's no way he could have organize it all, the abductions, the drugs, the drops. He's simply not smart enough. Even the job selection confirms it. He's security guard in big company. He's big, scary, but can't do anything else except for what he's told. He's just perfect to be someone's monkey for dirty work."

And that was it. They ate for a while in complete silence and then discussed the other interrogations thoroughly. They were able to put all the guys together and connect them to the victims, but nothing further. Every now and then Reid stole a quick glance at his watch. The afternoon was slowly turning to the evening and they were back at point one. He felt terrible urge to hit something.

And then Garcia strolled in like a storm.

"Someone should kick my ass or you should fire me, Sir. I'm not even sure if I shouldn't be arrested for that, it was so stupid, so childish mistake. I just overlooked it, I'm so sorry..." She would babble for longer time if Hotch wouldn't rise his voice.

**OK, I hope I have you hanging for a while:))**

**Next: What did Garcia find out...**


	9. Dawn

**Disclaimer: The usual**

**A/N Another short one, but at least they are quick to read:))**

"Garcia" he said loudly enough that it broke the bubble she was in. She winked few times as she came back to the reality and than said again, this time she was completely in control of herself.

"I'm so sorry, Sir" this time she spoke clearly to Hotch. "I was checking the criminal records of the persons involved in martial arts. But as you were still talking about male-suspects, I kind of ignored females. And it bit me in the ass, pardon my expression. Dawn Crossley." Garcia gave the file she was holding to Hotch.

"The usual childhood MO: tormenting animals, picking on smaller kids...blah, blah, blah. And there's more, as a teenager, she was few time busted for trespassing. In most of her statements she claims she was just curious. And the psychologist she was sent to confirms, that she likes to watch. But it's all sealed now as a juvenile record and she has a college degree now. Surprisingly, she studied psychology."

"That sounds interesting, but how she fits into the martial arts?" Morgan asked.

"She changed different courses few times, recently she's stuck in the Taekwondo." Garcia had the answer ready.

"Oh my God" Rossi exclaimed as he looked at the file Hotch was studying "Give me a second" and he walked quickly to his office. He was back in a minute carrying a photo he had brought from Annabelle's apartment.

"Look at that" he pointed to the corner of the photo.

"It's Dawn" Emily noticed first the person that had been accidentally captured in the background of the picture. Dawn was looking at the laughing group. "And that's jealousy if I have ever seen one" She continued with her observation.

"Is it enough to make her our prime suspect?" Morgan wondered and Garcia once again had her answer ready.

"Dawn's step-father owned a cabin in the woods, about two hours drive from the city. He died last year and Dawn was his only heir."

"But what she would get out of it all?" Emily rose the question.

"I think it's obvious. She likes to watch. She doesn't need to cause the suffering, she just likes to watch it being caused. I'm sure we will find a camera on the crime scene. Probably with wireless feed" Hotch considered the facts out loud.

"It's worth checking out..." Rossi stated.

"Judging by her college results and the courses she had picked, she would definitely have the brains to be the mastermind behind it all." Morgan noticed as he too got a quick pick on Dawn´s file.

"Let's call Ben and Linda first and ask them if they had ever heard about Dawn" Hotch said.

Reid checked his watch once more. They had all the suspects in the custody and from what they were able to learn about Dawn, it was very improbable she was involved in the torturing herself. It meant Ani was alone, probably tied up somewhere for a whole day.

"We can make that calls from the car." he said and as he was already walking towards the door he stopped like he saw something right in front of him. "Dawn Crossley...Dawn Crossley...It sounds weirdly familiar."

And then he almost ran back to the table and started to dig in already messy files. He found what he was looking for. "Look at that...assigned therapist to all the victims: Dawn Crossley. She leaves them alive for a reason. She feeds on their vulnerability."

"Shit" Rossi summarized this finding, but as they were all cursing quietly no one felt the need of questioning Dawn as a suspect anymore. All they could think about was getting as fast as they could to the cabin and hoping that Ani would be there. Alive.

"Reid" Hotch stopped the group before they would lost they heads completely. "You and Prentiss stay here and get Dawn Crossley arrested. Be careful, she will have escape plan ready. If we are lucky, you might be able to catch her at work. Let´s hope she doesn´t know we arrested her monkeys"

If Reid had any need to oppose, the stern face with which the order was given made him obey. The rest of the team left.

They were lucky and they found Dawn in her office, but the moment they could only think ´arrested´ she lawyered up and was sitting quietly in the interrogation room. They weren´t able to get from her even louder gasp.

**Next: Finding Annabelle**


	10. Freaked Out

**Disclaimer: Not mine**

**A/N OK, this is probably going be the longest chapter, but there's not much more left to be told after that.**

**A/N2 there were some issues with publishing this chapter, I hope it is OK now...**

Meanwhile the rest of the team spent restless minutes in car. They had asked local paramedics to be on standby, but Hotch decided not to call them before they would be sure Annabelle was there. Even though the fact, that Dawn was refusing to speak was promising, they were decided not to cause unnecessary attraction.

It took them almost three hours to find the cabin. It was already dark outside and not a single light was there. Even the moon was hidden behind the thick trees.

"It´s perfect hideout" JJ whispered.

"It´s prefect trap" Morgan whispered as well, feeling for no obvious reason the need not to disturb the utmost silence.

"JJ, go with Rossi from the back, Morgan with me" Hotch didn´t whisper, though his voice was quieter then usual. JJ nodded in answer and finished putting on the bullet proof vest. In minute she and Rossi were sneaking quietly behind the line of trees. Hotch´s voice sounding through intercom really startled them.

"We are ready to come in" he informed.

"Thirty seconds" Rossi estimated the time they needed to get to the back doors as they finally left the relative safety of tree line and swiftly ran through small opening in between the wood and the cabin.

"Ready" Rossi whispered when they took cover by the doors.

"3...2...1..." Morgan counted down and JJ felt sudden urge of adrenalin. She liked this feeling, it kept her sharp, but this time it also sharpened the nausea at the thought what they might see once they are in.

As Rossi kicked in the doors faint echo of front doors being treated in the same way by Morgan announced that they also got in. There was not much to be seen by the light of the flashlights they were carrying. They proceeded slowly as they were afraid of possible traps.

They had almost missed it, but there was faint light getting through something that look like a wardrobe. JJ tapped Rossi on the shoulder and turned her flashlight towards the supposed door. They crept in and they could hear every step Hotch and Morgan took upstairs clearing the rooms there. JJ tried the door not really expecting them to be unlocked. She was right. Rossi tried them few times too and then gave them a good kick. The door crashed open.

There were heavy curtains in the way. On the one side they were precisely tied to the door frame but on the other it looked like someone left in hurry and didn´t have time to cover every inch of the door. It was the light JJ saw.

It took them only few seconds to tear the curtains open. They ran down the stairs and the corridor was getting lighter and lighter and finally they saw what they were looking.

"We´ve found her" Rossi announced through the intercom immediately after he noticed the person tied on the bed "We need paramedics in here right now."

"Already on it" Garcia connected to the conversation from the distance took the initiative.

Rossi walked slowly to the bed. Annabelle was unconscious but he was able to found weak but steady pulse on her neck. Only then he noticed that the cover on the bed hid her nakedness only partially.

"Can someone get a blanket from the car?" he asked as his team-mates started to gather in the room, each of them exhaling in disgust every now and then as they started to notice the surroundings. The camera in the room was still on and they decided to leave it that way until the techs could get here and analyze the wireless feed.

"On it" JJ run out. She wasn´t profiler after all, but what she saw inside disgusted her anyway.

It didn´t take her even a minute when she ran back down with the blanket and a bottle of water.

Rossi was just about ready with cutting the ropes. JJ wrapped Annabelle tightly in the blanket and Rossi carried her to the safety of the car. JJ got there with her and started to carefully remove the layers of the duct tape from Annabelle´s face. The FBI agents were both aware of the possibility of the evidence on the duct tape, but they didn´t really care. They just made sure to get the tape to the bag.

As JJ finally worked through at least ten layers, Annabelle started to stir with pain. JJ felt her figure stiffen as she realized she wasn´t tied to bed anymore.

"It´s OK, Annabelle..." Rossi assured when he noticed she was starting to regain consciousness. JJ stopped Rossi with headshake as she felt Annabelle jerked away involuntarily on the sound of male voice.

"Annabelle, it´s JJ with the BAU, you are safe now. We are going to get you to the hospital."

It took them longer then they supposed to calm Ani down. Even though Rossi finally get out of the car, Ani still fought until the exhaustion took over the adrenalin bust and led her back into unconsciousness. When the paramedics arrived, JJ volunteered to go with Ani.

.oOo.

Ani woke up again in the hospital. She winked few times as she tried to focus her sight so she could take in the surroundings, but as a male voice came to her she started to panic again. The doctors were reluctant with giving her sedatives, after all she had been dosed with unidentifiable drugs recently.

JJ was there with Ani, but even her calming voice wasn't able to hold her still. In the end the doctors were force to give up and they called female doctor. By the time the doctor got in, preliminary lab results arrived and it seemed there were no drugs in Ani's body right now.

After dose of sedatives doctors were finally able to took proper care of their patient. JJ then decided to leave the room and let doctors do their job. She collapsed on chair by the doors and waited for updates.

It was there Hotch found her as he and Rossi arrived to the hospital. They had left Morgan to supervise the investigation of the crime scene, but it was more then obvious there wasn't much to be found. The UnSub was neatly organized and if one of Dawn's monkey didn't screw up and had covered the doors properly, they wouldn't probably be even able to find Ani or even any trace of her ever being there.

"And what about Annabelle?" Hotch asked finally.

"She had to be put under sedatives. I'm sure there's better word to put it, but she's seriously freaked out." JJ said even though she was sure Rossi informed Hotch about Annabelle's violent reaction to male presence.

"It's disgusting what they managed to do with her during just four days." Rossi observed.

"Do you think she'll remember it all?" JJ asked.

Hotch sighed.

"I have to say I hope she does. It would make conviction of all our suspects so much easier. But considering Annabelle's further life...the other survivors are probably better off." he admitted.

They had no room for further discussion. The doctor came and informed them about Ani's condition. It was serious but hopefully not life threatening. All the bruises and broken bones will heal in time although the doctor expected that the broken collar bone and three cracked ribs would give Ani hard time.

He was also worried about the injuries on Ani's wrists and ankles. She had fought hard against the restrains and the rope cut deeply into her flesh. Especially those on Ani's leg were infected and doctor couldn't be sure how spread the infection already was. But considering her high fever he was worried the infection was already influencing Ani's system.

In the end the doctor asked about Ani's emergency contact. The agents then realized they had completely forgotten about Ben. JJ immediately picked her phone up and started the call. Ben arrived two hours later in company of Reid. Ani was just starting to awake again.

With doctor's approval Ben went into the room. The rest was observing through the glass door.

Ben carefully touched Ani's hand and she involuntarily jerked away. Ben then sat on the chair and kept his distance. He started to say some calming words and Ani finally managed to focus her sight on his face and in her eyes flashed a wave of recognition. She tried to say something or smile, but as she tried to move a muscle on her bruised face it led only to yelp of pain.

In this moment the doctor came in, he introduced himself and was going to adjust Ani's pain medication. But he never got to in. As Ani noticed strange male moving towards her, she freaked out, crouched in the corner of the bed and tried to be invisible. She managed to pull out the infusion and the monitors she was connected to started beeping. The noise seemed to agitate Ani even more and it seemed she didn't recognize even Ben anymore.

Luckily the doctor didn't loose his mind. He made few steps back and asked Ben to do the same. In a second nurse brought him another sedatives and after a while Ani was once again in sweet unconsciousness. Every one breathed out with relief.

The doctor informed Ani was going to be out of it for at least another hour or so and then asked Ben to go with him and fill necessary paperwork. Ben was glad to take his mind of what had just happen and walked away with a nurse.

Hotch threw one more distressed look at the person in the hospital bed and he realized there was nothing more to do for them.

"JJ, I want you or Emily to be here all the time. Make sure that only females are allowed in the room. Damn, I want the person in the lab analyzing her blood to be female. The moment she regains consciousness I want you to try and interview her, but..." he hesitated. He had never been unnecessarily though on the victims, but he knew the value of the information they could provide therefore he pressed them whenever he believed it to be productive. After what he just saw he couldn´t get himself to do so, even if Annabelle was the first victim to be found alive and undrugged, hopefully with her memory intact.

"I know, Hotch, don´t worry. It´ll be fine" JJ assured.

The rest of us should go home, get some rest and in the morning we start fresh on Dawn Crossley. I want her convicted as soon as possible.

**Next: Wrapping up**


	11. Small Victories

**Disclaimer: The usual**

**A/N Wow, this chapter came longer then I expected. The next one will be the last one. After all, the case is solved and Anabelle...well, you'll see**

Anabelle was considering every step she took small victory. It was only third day since she regained full consciousness, but she couldn't stay in bed anymore. In fact, her injuries weren't that serious and when the drugs were completely out of her system, she was feeling as well as she could in situation as this. Of course the bruises were all over her body, but she was able to deal with pain. Even the three cracked ribs couldn't stop her from getting out of the bed.

The last three days had been a blur. She still needed to be put under sedatives few time, but it was milder dose every time and she hadn't need any since yesterday morning. Emily had been there when she woke up for the first time and the moment JJ had arrived they had conducted the interview. She remembered most of what had happened to her, except the abduction. They had all agreed it was because she was drugged.

Her testimony had been enough to start the prosecution of all five male suspects, but she had nothing on Dawn Crossley. She had even barely remember her as she was still new in Taekwondo classes.

As the investigation proceeded, some new questions arose and JJ or Emily had been always there to ask it.

To be honest, Ani started to be fed up with them. She liked them but their constant presence bothered her. She missed her brother, but he had been forced to fly to Boston to take care of couple things. He promised to be back in few days, so he could take care of Ani after she went home. They talked often over the phone but it wasn't the same.

On Hotch's order girls didn't let almost anyone to her room. Ani appreciated it most of the time, because she was aware no one could be sure of her reaction and she could hurt herself, but as her strength was coming back, she started to feel little rebellious. And now she was determined to take at least few steps.

What bothered her the most were the rope-burns on her wrist and ankles. She had fought against the restrains on her wrist so hard, that she had broken some bones in there. The ankles were even worse, because the injuries got infected and the itching was unbearable and every step was painful.

And then there were the injuries somewhere not specifically in pelvic area that also made walking harder, but she preferred them to hurt for real that the psychical pain she was feeling while she was trapped in her bed.

Emily and JJ didn't leave her for a moment even while she was walking hospital corridors. Anabelle wondered when they found time to go home to change or take shower. At first she played brave and tried to convince them to leave her alone, but with time she admitted it was better not to have time for memories.

The only problem was Ani had never been good with girl's small talk and when the case-connected questions were resolved, she realized she had not much to tell to the agents.

Ani was ready to admit her defeat and go back to bed when Reid appeared on the corridor. Ani leaned more comfortably on the crouches and tried to smile at him.

"Reid, what are you doing here?" Emily asked "Was there any new development?"

"No, I just..." Reid seemed confused.

But before he could finish JJ interrupted "Whatever it is, let us get Ani to bed and we'll be right there with you"

"JJ" Ani spoke for the first time "I asked Spence to come" she surprised them "He has some books for me, right" and she gave him one more smile through the bruises.

"Yep" he nodded towards considerably big bag in his hand but his smile quickly faded "Ani..." he just whispered while he took the two steps that divided them and supported her before she could fall. Paleness covered her face.

"Sorry" Ani whispered "I probably overrated my strength" she admitted as she leaned into him. The female agents were so surprised they didn't even try to help Spence to support her. Just yesterday they watch Ani get all stiff and nervous only when she was in one room with male-patient while she was waiting for X-ray.

It was almost unbelievable how comfortable she was in the doctor's company. Once she was safely back in the bed, he most naturally took the chair right next to her and the conversation flew easily. Emily looked with disbelief at JJ. Only this morning they were in vain trying to engage Ani in any kind of conversation. When Emily finally commented the fact out loud, Ani just shrugged her shoulders apologetically. "I've told you shoes are not my favorite kind of conversation"

"I'll remember it" Emily smiled "I'm just glad you are OK. I'll go now and get me and JJ some coffee"

"You can both go" Ani said "you are trapped here with me all days. I'll be fine"

"You think you can manage that, Spence?" JJ teased. He threw them annoyed look which provoked Emily to further teasing.

"By the way, does Hotch know you are here?"

"No, and I'd appreciate if it stayed that way..." he admitted.

"Well, of course" JJ promised "But it's going to cost you" the agent threatened just before she left the room.

The couple that stayed in the room could hear the smile on the corridor. Ani waited till it faded before she asked Spence about the investigation.

"Emily and JJ only look at me like if I had gone mad, when I had asked" she explained.

"It's because you are going to be witness and we shouldn't discuss anything about the case with you" Reid explained patiently.

"I realize that, just tell me if there's enough evidence against Dawn"

"Oh, don't worry, she's fried" Reid bragged. In the end it was him, who broke Dawn. They agreed that he, as the least threatening in the BAU group, should lead the investigation.

It had taken some time, but Dawn just couldn't say no to the sweet admiration he had in his eyes while he was talking to her. In fact, Dawn had been so self-confident, she even went against her lawyer's advice. She had no idea about the small comments she had let pass were tiny nails to her coffin: her pleasure in watching, her god-complex, her hatred for women that fit in male world and were able to come along with them. But the final drop was Garcia, who managed to decrypt the wireless feed and she tracked it right to Dawn's computer.

"Great. Now all I wan't is for my life to go back to normal" Ani said and she didn't care about detail. She was happy it was over.

"It's not going to be easy, you know..." Reid didn't have the heart to tell her how hard is going to be fight with the PTSD, not to mention the long days that are awaiting her in the court room.

"I'm not stupid. Trust me, I've noticed PTSD even though the girls won't leave me alone. Sometimes I just want to crawl under my bed and cry myself to death, but I was given some antidepressants so I should be OK." Ani decided that acting bravely was the best way out.

What Spence said next surprised even him "You know, it might not be the wisest to rationalize everything. You can allow yourself to be little emotional. Just yell and scream and do whatever you want. Don't keep it inside you." he encouraged and then added mischievously "and never mind if you happen to give JJ and Emily hard time by this"

And he managed what he came for. She laughed. It didn't matter it was just a second and it ended with grimace of pain because of the broken ribs, but she felt like she just climbed on the huge mountain and finally saw the destination of her journey in front of her.

Reid's visits became frequent while she was staying in hospital. Despite the threats Emily and JJ had never felt the urge to betray the secret to the rest of the team. They were glad Ani was feeling better and while she was with Reid they had time for themselves.

That way it lasted for two weeks, while Ani stayed in hospital. The last signs of infection were cleared and the broken bones just needed time and rest and she could get both at home. Ben and his fiancée stayed with her as long as they could, just to prevent the rest of the family to come to see her.

But in two months time she was just about ready to take care of herself. She had taken Reid's advice just once. It was while the prosecutor was trying to change her statement about the emotions surrounding her kidnapping and captivity. The Prosecutor believed there was more to be gained from her story. Ani cracked.

As the first tears appeared on her face caused by overwhelming emotions, she decided to cover them with anger. The fury came surprisingly easily to her as she yelled at the Prosecutor to get kidnapped and try it on himself to get better feeling for the situation. When the tears couldn't be covered anymore, she decided to run out of the room.

For some it might have been surprising, but JJ was the one to find Ani half an hour later still quietly crying on Reid's shoulder. It was almost heartbreaking seeing this two acting so cluelessly. But there was nothing she could do. For some reason the two of them decided to ignore what was going between them. Ignore, because even knowing Reid JJ couldn't believe he wouldn't realize what he was feeling.

As the court date was finally settled, the team stopped meeting Anabelle at all. There was no more reason to be meeting on regular basis. Ani was still at home, undergoing the treatment and the team had another cases to solve. Life went back into the usual tracks with only occasional teasing question towards Reid, how was his love life proceeding.

Reid decided to go with total ignorance. He went through the teasing with total calmness and always held his tongue. It paid off and in a while the girls mentioned Ani less and less and one day they stopped at all.

Ani and other lab workers were once more completely forgotten.

**Next: The last chapter**


	12. Back at Work

**Disclaimer: Criminal minds are not mine**

**A/N So, it's done. I hope you have enjoyed it at least little bit.**

The day was slow. The team was supposed to be catching on a paperwork, but as the time slowly flew to the end of the shift, the laziness took charge over the agents.

It was hard to believe it had already been over a three months since the abduction case. They had already solved seven outside the city cases and wrote dozens of consults. The life went back to normal as they had started to ignore the lab workers as they used to. They were just resources that helped them solve cases.

Emily was almost ashamed as she realized she had no idea if Annabelle was back at work yet. She took the first lab report to ongoing case and check the name under it. Well, whoever it was, it wasn´t Annabelle...

And then she realized Reid had been seeing the lab tech occasionally. Maybe it still lasted. Although the doctor was the only one still working, Emily didn´t hesitate to interrupt him.

"Hey, Reid, I was just wondering, when does Annabelle come back to work?"

"She passed psychological evaluation last week and she was supposed to start on Monday." he informed not realizing he was betraying the fact he stayed in close contact with Annabelle.

"Well, my reports are still written by someone else" Morgan joined the conversation "and seriously, they might as well be written in Japanese. I had no idea lab reports could be so complicated." he complained.

"Maybe slightly less clear. Ani had used to write me some explanation when she used new method or found something interesting." Reid daydreamed.

Emily looked hesitatingly at Reid. He used to get passionate about all kind of weird stuff. But this time she guessed the doctor's passion wasn't all about the reports. "I agree with Morgan, never before my lab reports contained words I couldn´t not only understand, but even read correctly" she said anyway, deciding rather not to change topic.

"Maybe I can help you with that, Agent Prentiss" the vaguely familiar voice startled them. Emily breathed out with relief. She had made good call, deciding not to pick on Reid.

"Ani..." Reid turned to her enthusiastically but all joy disappeared from his face as he noticed the huge box she was holding. She smiled at him and answered the unasked question.

"I have handed in my resignation yesterday. Frank was sad but very forthcoming. I really thought I could come back, but after two days here it was more than clear it wasn´t going to work."

"It usually takes time" Emily smiled at the lab tech "And I thought you have passed the evaluation"

"I did" Ani admitted "and with the PTSD therapy I´m undergoing I believe it would have been all right. But I decided for the easier way out. I´m moving to Boston. My brother had even found me apartment in the same building he is living in. His wedding is in two weeks and his fiancee had just found out she´s pregnant. So, the little one is going to need its auntie to spoil him rotten"

"And what about a job?" Morgan asked practically.

"Frank had offered me to call the Boston department to get me job there, but I don´t think it´s good idea. I´m thinking about some medical labs. But I´ll see. Right now, I´m going to enjoy my holidays and I need to get myself in shape for the national championships"

"It sounds like a good plan" JJ, who came out of her office as she noticed Annabelle there, joined the conversation "But we´ll miss you around here" she said truthfully.

"I´ll miss you too guys, at least the ones I didn´t have to translate my reports for" Ani teased.

"But I..." Reid complained but Morgan jumped right in "She wasn´t talking about you..." and he stood up and shook Ani´s hand. Emily as well came to say her goodbyes.

"But I have just signed in for Taekwondo classes" Reid finally got out of himself and caused the whole group to stare at him in disbelief. The doctor continued "You have promised you were going to show me what you like about it the most" he obviously referred to some conversation the two of them had before.

"I´m sorry, Spence" Ani said sadly "but I..."

"I know, I get it. I´ll just revoke my application"

"There´s no reason for you to do that... Just go there and start practicing. The masters in local gym are great. The national championships are in three months, here in DC. So come and watch and you´ll see, how much more you appreciate it even with only three months in. And I´ll be there, I promise"

And then the doctor did something no one had expected. He made just the few steps towards Ani and hugged her tightly. She reacted automatically, hiding her face on his neck. He whispered something to her and when they let go, there were tears in her eyes. Ani smiled through the tears to the rest of the group, bidding her goodbye and before anyone realized what was going on, she was in the elevator.

Annabelle knew she had made the right decision, but as she was taking shower that evening she realized there were again tears in her eyes. She let them flow freely as she remembered the honest hug Spencer had gave her and the whispered words

"I know we shall see each other again"

**THE END**


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